If you are the parent of a Baltimore-area Jewish high school student, sending your child to Israel for a gap year experience after high school has been a tradition in the community for many years.
There are numerous programs available, ranging from yeshivot and seminaries to those at Bar-Ilan University or Hebrew University, where college credit is available to students. Many programs offer students the opportunity to engage in extensive volunteer work.
Despite recent events, including the Israel-Iran conflict and the ongoing war in Gaza, many parents in the Greater Baltimore community are still excited for their children to spend a gap year in the Jewish state.
A lot of those parents are confident that their children would be safe while spending a year or two deeply immersed in the culture, language and tradition of the state of Israel.
Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School has a large percentage of graduates who take a gap year in Israel.
In the last three years, over one-third of Beth Tfiloh graduates enrolled in a gap year program, mainly in Israel.
“At Beth Tfiloh, we are extremely proud of the variety of Israel gap-year programs our students participate in. Our students are accepted into the most highly sought yeshivot and seminaries. That includes programs that require extremely advanced levels of skill for text study and programs that have a great focus on spiritual and experiential learning. In addition, our students have opted into programs that offer general studies college courses in addition to Torah classes. The common denominator is that these are young people who want to experience the first part of independent adulthood in Israel,” said Rabbi Mordechai Soskil, the high school principal at Beth Tfiloh.
Ora and Mike Noorani have three children, all of whom are graduates of Beth Tfiloh. Their two boys have completed their gap years and have chosen to continue their education in Israel, making aliyah.
Amiel Noorani, who graduated in 2024, will begin his army service early next year after attending Bar-Ilan University last year and earning 27 credits. Lila Noorani graduated this past June and will be attending Bar-Ilan University for her gap year, where she will study food science.
Ora Noorani suggested that parents and students consider various gap year options and work together to select the optimal program for each child.
She believes that taking a break after high school in a nurturing and supportive program in Israel makes a considerable difference in the maturation of a young adult.
Rabbi Elliot and Toby Kaplowitz, the parents of Beth Tfiloh graduate Yisrael Kaplowitz, have no apprehension about their son’s plans for the upcoming school year.
Yisrael will be attending Yeshivat Orayta in Jerusalem and, upon his return, will enroll at Washington University in St. Louis.
“I am so excited for him. I think it will be great for his connection to Israel, to his Zionism and his connection to Jewish life,” said Toby Kaplowitz.
Many families at Congregation Shomrei Emunah in the Greenspring-Cheswolde area also consistently send their high school graduates to Israel for a gap year.
Shomrei Emunah members Joe and Abby Hirsch will be sending their son to Yeshivat Sha’arei Mevaseret Zion.
Joe Hirsch stated that he and his wife are thrilled that their son “has the opportunity to further develop his personal and spiritual potential in the right place for him.”
Dov has a great love of sports and is a “magnetic guy.” After Israel, he will attend Yeshiva University in New York to study sports psychology.
His parents are appropriately concerned about his safety, but not so much that they would deny him this opportunity.
Shomrei Emunah members Dr. Itzi and Dassie Barr are sending their daughter Nechama to Keser Chaya Seminary.
Dassie Barr believes that “we are lucky that in Bais Yaakov in Baltimore, we have administrators who guide the girls to pick the right seminary for them.”
While in high school, Nechama enjoyed her Judaic studies, and she hopes to study graphic design when she returns to Baltimore to attend college. She enjoys volunteering and helping kids with special needs.
Sholom Meir and Lia Weisbord, who are also members of Shomrei Emunah, are sending their daughter, Michaela Dalia, to a seminary in Israel, and they have no concerns about her safety there.
She has a brother living in Israel. “This is an opportunity to experience a certain amount of independence,” her father said.
Paula Minsk is a freelance writer.
